Music Can Be As Badass As Mafia
by Riverly-Melody
Summary: ...And keys can proclaim one's will just as well as flames can. When Reborn comes to Namimori to train a Vongola boss, he expects an average homeschooling student with no athletic skills whatsoever and an inclination to get a musical education as per the info Reborn received. Instead, he finds that everything's more serious. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a...Well-known pianist? Pianist!27
1. Pianist

**Music Can Be As Badass As Mafia**

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**Full Summary:** ...And keys can proclaim one's will just as well as flames can. When Reborn comes to Namimori to train the Tenth Vongola boss, he anticipates an average homeschooling student with barely any athletic skills whatsoever and an inclination to get a musical education, as per the info Reborn received. Instead, he finds out that everything is much more serious. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a... well-known and greatly loved pianist? Though still a hysterical one, at that.

Instead of dumping the mafia world on the boy's head, Reborn is the one who is thrown into an equally as crazy and hectic world of music schools, jury politics, competitions and back stages in which Tsuna is more known as Yoshi, though he still is Tsuna to people who know him closely, and he is nearly not as awkward nor so talentless and bullied as he seems to be in everyday society. Though it's not as if Reborn can be thrown off so easily, huh?

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**Warnings:** AU, Talented!Tsuna, Musically-gifted!Tsuna, Smarter!Tsuna, passing OCs, (musical) language, Italian terms and a big amount of music-related plot. Musical instruments ahoy!

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"Honestly, he's even smaller than _me_! And he's so cute..."

"Oh shut up, that's not the coolest thing about him. Have you actually payed any attention to how he plays?"

"So cute!"

"I'm telling you, he's a _genius_. I've heard his interpretations and even a few of his recent compositions. God, he's only _thirteen_. We're already fifteen. And as you said, he's small yet he manages to maintain an amount of energy required for playing for more than hour! There's rumors that he's aiming for Saint-Saëns second g-moll concerto with orchestra! The third part!"

"And his hair are so kawaii!"

"_As I was saying_, his technique is so- so- ugh! He can grind _diamonds_ with it! He must spend lots of hours and he has so many concert requests – it's a miracle he can keep up with the insane amount of repertoire he has! And I can't even imagine how he deals with school – I heard he writes exams a few times a semester and his marks aren't as bad, considering he must spend at least half a day in front of the instrument."

"I'm definitely getting his autograph this time!"

"Satsuki-chan, are you even listening?!"

"I wonder if he likes roses... Yes, I'm getting roses! And I'll definitely get to the stage today – I'm especially determined!"

"Oh come on, Satsuki-chan!"

"You should blame yourself for taking me to his concert, Kasikomi-chan! I never thought classic music was so wonderful. You really were right."

"At least you acknowledge that classic music is great."

"...And of course, I never thought musicians were so cute."

"Satsuki-chan..."

Reborn was getting exasperated.

He had delivered the flyer with the offer of his 'home tutor' job and had been listening to the gossip circulating through Namimori for three hours already and he was not getting anything useful.

All the gossip consisted of trivial things: the discounts at the market, a person's cat giving birth to an especially big litter, some of the latest political news, the local yakuza planning to put an assault on the neighboring town on hold for some reason and...

And the upcoming solo piano concert that will be taking place at Namimori Middle this evening.

The city was _buzzing_ with it – from neighbor's chatting with each other to students going to school, the obvious example being the pair of girls passing by the tree the number one hitman was sitting on.

It was annoying.

All he heard from the people about the news were praises and excitement about getting to hear this pianist. From what he gathered (not that he'd intended too – he just filed the information automatically because who knows, it might turn out to be useful), the pianist was a thirteen year old boy with, apparently, skills of a grown up and what was more, the gift of reaching into one's very soul with his play. The sheer force of his technique was also a praised matter and people who actually understood at least a bit in the musical profession were telling how exceedingly natural the boy seemed to be able to play. They said that his way of playing was a wonder because the audience was entranced with the vivid and liveful sound the teen made. The impact of the overall phrasing was mentioned too.

It wasn't really important though, because Reborn hadn't come to this town to go on concerts, even if he rather appreciated classic music. (He was a self-respecting Italian, of course he did.)

But coming back to the matter at hand, it was also proof that Sawada Tsunayoshi, the boy he'd come from Italy to train into a good mafia boss, was – disappointingly, because Reborn had hoped Tsunayoshi's blood would make him at least in some way differ and stand out amongst others – not in any way out of ordinary, or else the baby would have heard otherwise from the hungry gossipers.

As a matter of fact, he didn't hear _anything_ about the boy in Namimori. Of course, the boy was practically homeschooling, only turning up for classes in given weeks and only showed up in school for exams and such – which was something Reborn was yet to find out why; what in the world could excuse an average student from not attending lessons? – so any nicknames or rumors that were bound to be there if the boy studied in school on regular basis were not present.

Again, there was only gossip about this 'Yoshi' boy, how everybody called him.

As he previously said, annoying.

Onyx eyes glinting in a very ominous way indeed, the Sun Arcobaleno headed to the Sawada residence.

After all, he did need to check why Tsunayoshi's mother had not yet called him for the services he offered.

...

It was getting out of hand.

Nobody was at the house and it seemed that both Sawada Tsunayoshi and Sawada Nana were out.

A vein almost popped on Reborn's temple. He'd have to wait for the two to come back and for his future charge's mother to phone him, so there would be an excuse for him to enter the house. (So much fuss when he could've just barged in but then again, that wasn't Reborn's style).

Almost sighing, the number one hitman remembered about the concert and made a hypothesis that both might possibly have gone there. With nothing better to do at the moment, he decided to drop by the place and maybe even sit for a bit and listen, if he felt like it. After all, he didn't really have high hopes for a middle school musician.

When Reborn got to the school – from what he gathered, that was where the event would take place – it was bursting with crowds of people and just as he walked up to the not-really-well-made 'concert' hall which was organized from the speeches hall, a stampede of students rushed by, causing such a wind that it caused the hitman's fedora to almost fly off if not for his steady grip on it.

Just as he was about to follow, a particularly strong presence entered Reborn's radar and he turned around just in time to see a tall raven-haired teenager with a red armband sweep into the scene and unsheath two proficiently held tonfas from under his black jacket.

"Crowds are not acceptable. I shall bite you to death if you do not enter the concert hall immediately. If there will be any noise or commotion during the concert, I shall bite you to _death_."

The second time the teen mentioned 'death', it clearly implied a worse fate to befall on one than if they merely crowded, implying a permanent punishment. In any way interfering with the concert seemed to be regarded as sin.

The crowds scattered in terror and the school yard was quickly void of any people. The raven-haired had watched them rush into the hall and after a few seconds, swiftly yet elegantly followed after.

Watching them with an unreadable expression, the Arcobaleno graciously followed after them as he presumed they were headed to the concert.

The baby entered the a-la-concert-hall just as an eager woman told him to get in quickly so she could close the doors already – he didn't even receive the meaningful glance people usually gave him because of their surprise at his age and lonesome whereabouts - and took a look at the rest of the hall.

It was packed.

Reborn only found a seat at the very end of the hall and took the seat (well, the top of the seat back, so he could at least see the boy's hands). He'd also noted that the local yakuza gang he'd overheard earlier were sitting in the row in front of him.

Well, if the boy's playing could stop _yakuza_ from clashing with each other...

The audience started clapping and soon, impatient applause thundered through the building.

A female student with short brown hair had come from behind the scenes and spoke a cheery 'welcome' speech to 'Namimori Middle' which Reborn tuned out, though he heard certain bits.

"...Today's concert is dedicated to the ingenious Russian composers of the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Skryabin and Prokofiev. First, Sergei Rachmaninoff's cis-moll prelude and the Musical Moments will be..."

Reborn had once again tuned her out.

A couple of minutes later of small biography on the composers and the list of pieces to be played – quite a big one; apparently there were two parts of the concert which was by itself an impressive thing – a name caught Reborn's attention but unfortunately the applause that had started just at the mention of the boy's name were so loud that he was only able to distinguish the end.

"-yoshi!" The female student ended almost gleefully as she waved a hand at the scenes in a gesture of welcoming the pianist on stage and disappeared behind them herself.

To the applause and well-hidden surprise of the baby hitman, a rather scrawny and even slightly hunched over figure in a slightly too-big black suit entered the stage and the hitman, even though he couldn't see the teen that well – someone made an absolutely _genius_ work with the lights, may his sarcasm be forgiven – he couldn't believe how weak and trembling the boy seemed.

He scoffed.

This was supposed to be the oh-so-genius player everyone spoke so highly of? Reborn knew how real pianists looked and felt – once they came on stage, their presence could rival with that of powerful swordsmen. This? This was an excuse for a musician.

Meanwhile, the boy had bowed politely and blushed lightly at the fawning girls that seemed to take the place in the front rows and emit sparkles. He walked over to the grand piano and took the seat, rubbing his hands on a small handkerchief nervously and putting it on one side of the instrument. He adjusted the seat to his comfort and waited for the applause to recede. Once there was silence, he breathed in and out and raised his thin hands over the key board...

In the next forty five minutes, Reborn was forced admit that he was wrong.

Drastically wrong.

The moment the boy's fingers connected with the instrument, the whole hall was enveloped in a strong and powerful aura that didn't match the boy's appearance.

_At all_.

The very first three chords seemingly gentle but foreboding had shook everyone including Reborn to the core with the infinite depth vibrating within them.

The boy had Power.

With a very soft and natural sound coming from under his fingers and a powerful melody echoing through the hall, Reborn could close his eyes and feel the utter sadness of the heart-breaking harmony. The boy's eyes were closed and he took the major-tenth-big accords with ease not questionable. Yoshi almost cringed in pain at the peak of the deceptively quiet harmonies, as if living through it himself. Soon, the music's very slow but sure flow headed down where an ominous melody went through the bass.

The following fast passages grew into a swift mezzo, a free rubato underlining every key with attention and it grew into forte array of passages and accords and then it shifted into a desperate plea and with the reprise the tension rose and the culmination came. With a regal air, the music spoke of a righteous rage and fury at something beyond words and something that was being expressed through the ten fingers of the pianist.

Reborn's eyes widened and he realized that it was beautifully done. Even the heart-wrenching harmony of the very peak of the culmination made something like a shock run through his body and with stark clarity the boy onstage expressed raw emotions in a way Reborn had never before heard.

He could not at all comprehend how such a frail-looking child could possess such power that was not only there but was also carefully converted into each of the boy's fingers.

The whole concert hall was absolutely silent which proved the impression the prelude left on the people.

For the rest of the first part of the concert, Reborn remained frozen to his seat. The prelude was followed by 'Melody' – a piece from the same opus, yet the contrast was shown stark and clear by Yoshi. The melody seemed like the sound of a crystal and the whole piece was played as if on one breath, even the moment of stillness right after the culmination as well as the nerve-tingling part where the melody was accompanied by another one in the other hand and the last ending sounds melting into the air were as if they were tangible and left an aftertaste gradually dispersing into nothingness.

Next was Prokofiev and as shameful as it was, Reborn didn't know much about the composer. Nevertheless, Yoshi's play had very much compensated Reborn's lack of knowledge with the first, second, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth pictures of the Vision Fugitives. The contemplating and philosophical nature of the first two ones contrasted to the slightly sharp and angered mood of the fourth and to the small and playful sixth one. The seventh with it's legato passed on the impression of a soft harp very vividly and the eighth two melodies interacted like two living people. The tenth was tinged with a bit of a joyful nature with passing shadows of dissonances and ended in an entirely other tonality.

Prokofiev, Reborn found, was a bit odd but it seemed as if it was all part of the idea when Yoshi played it.

And the last for the first part – oh. Tchaikovsky's 'Doumka'. Reborn hadn't known about it but it turned out to be something brilliant (at least in Yoshi's interpretation). Starting with a traditional sorrowful Russian motif of a natural minor with seventh step unchanged and the sounds of gusli, it was as if someone was narrating – as if Yoshi was narrating through the grand piano, gathering more and more strength and at a point shifting into a fast and powerful passage and tremolo which was followed by a cheerfully bright melody differing between staccato and small legates with a few lines of minor-hued accords.

Yoshi certainly had in property a mountain crystal sound that somehow reverberated through the space in a very special way.

The next part went in a flurry of passages and clearly difficult jumps from one end of the keyboard to the other which was done with enviable ease, which unexpectedly turned to a classic Russian motif again and gradually quieting down, the audience held their breath as the music stilled down to a hanging accord. Soon though, a passage accelerated and erupted in movement and rapid speed which was followed by an arpeggio of octaves in both hands that were very masterfully done.

The culmination made an amazing impact on the viewers even as it receded into repeating accords. It was unexpected that the piece hadn't ended on that note, yet no one in the hall even thought of applauding because of the way Yoshi didn't let go of the keys and of something on another level that was what differed artistically talented people from ordinary ones. The melody returned to the very first motif though this time it wasn't as lyrical and was more brisk and regretful, as if a person narrating had just told one of his brightest memories and was now thrust back into the hard reality with only an occasional slip of bright-toned harmonies.

Somehow, Reborn felt as if he could relate.

The piece was almost ended on a dark quiet note but it appeared it wasn't all – Yoshi had with an untraceable rapidness raised his hands and all but jumped from his seat as he took the last two forte minor accord.

The whole building exploded with applause and yells of 'bravo'.

Yoshi had risen from his seat and smiling, he bowed. Reborn saw sweat glistening on his forehead and the back of the boy's black suit was drenched. The hitman couldn't really blame him – that was one hell of a performance and apparently, this was only the first part. The boy had rather quickly – almost as if fleeing – left the stage even if he was called out at least two times by the applause.

The female student from before had announced a ten minute break and noise ensued as people discussed the performance of the first part and argued about what waited for them in the second.

While the break took place, Reborn thought of all the compliments he was giving the boy mentally. He decided that the boy deserved them because it was obvious that he worked hard to earn himself both the skills and the reputation.

The whole performance was a clear demonstration of Yoshi's lightning fast fingers that took bigger accords than one would expect of the scrawny teen. But the whole thing was that the audience wasn't distracted by the technical issues and could instead savor the music which Yoshi served on a silver platter.

Reborn ought to deal with the boy appropriately – a Guardian with a career like this lying ahead would certainly benefit Vongola with all the privileges a pianist had and could use in the Underworld.

(The skills of a musician were often banged into the heads of the little heirs of mafia groups – it could turn out to be an advantage if brought up correctly. The Sun Arcobaleno didn't really know of the exact details, but a career of a pianist among mafia was mostly based on diverting people's attention or otherwise serving as a distraction so there wasn't much actual music left, sadly. But the world wasn't fair like that.)

The crowds of people have already started to gather again, taking their seats, and before Reborn could carry on his thoughts, the second part ensued as the girl from the school announced the program for it and the young pianist was greeted with strong enthusiastic applause again.

The young boy had came back onstage and smiled warmly at the audience, earning quite a tide of sparkles from the first rows. This time, Reborn had been able to glimpse the hard cold steel of concentration brewing in the boy's brown eyes just before the young pianist turned away from the audience and took seat in front of the instrument, using the handkerchief to sweep over the keyboard lightly, perhaps to clean away the sweat from before.

The second part passed on one breath, starting with Skryabin's two poems from the 32 opus and the third sonata – the second and third parts, all in a swirl of foreign colors and bursts of wrath and whispers, and then Tchaikovsky's 'Seasons' – Yoshi played 'May; White Nights' and somehow, Reborn could picture the short nights in Saint Petersburg and the aroma of late spring and warm winds which, according to the female student who'd told about it in the beginning, Tchaikovsky wrote it when he'd been in Saint Petersburg in May. The boy had played the piece with outmost care and gentleness, shifting the melody as a small night breeze to a ray of sunset light to a flurry of flower scent in the evening air.

The last piece showed Yoshi's level of professionalism – Andante Maestoso from Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker' in Michael Pletnov's edition.

For once, Reborn was at a loss of words.

He could not with all the different languages he possessed the knowledge of express the feeling he got as he listened to the music trickling from under Yoshi's fingers.

The culmination was like nothing he'd heard before and the hitman once again could not find himself believing how this small, barely teen got to have so much power and asked where he brought the strength from as he heard the arpeggio flounce from one end of the keyboard to the other and right back, the main theme passing down from one hand to another so carefully that Reborn couldn't tell when the boy exchanged hands to continue it.

The rage had subsided, instead filling the hall with a soft melody of a farewell, the last accords ringing through the building and beyond as Yoshi resoluted the dominant into the Tonica and the last sounds faded into the world.

Yoshi breathed out and took his hands off the instrument with a small pull, as if taking away the magic he just brought away with him to show another day.

Reborn thought he'd gone deaf when he realized it was just the thunderous ovation the young pianist had got.

He found that he too had stood up and was applauding – quite sincerely indeed.

Reborn could honestly say that he had thoroughly enjoyed this concert which had come as a very big surprise though he supposed it wasn't. Gossip that had led him here always had a seed of truth.

The front – and not only – rows rushed to the stage with flowers and the young pianist bowed down to accept them and was almost drowned in bouquets of different colors. He was smiling, tiredly, but very happily and the hall applauded even louder as a faint blush crept on the teen's face and a joyful sparkle settled in those big doe eyes.

And then, thinking of how he would scold the future student of his and drag Sawada Tsunayoshi to a concert of this young pianist to motivate the brat, just as the boy on the stage straightened and glanced in Reborn's general direction, through the general noise, the Sun Arcobaleno heard the boy's whole name.

"Applause to Sawada Tsunayoshi!"

Reborn snapped around and his black eyes widened a fraction.

...Well. That really _was_ a surprise.

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**A/N:** I have no excuse to start up another story when I have other ones hanging but this is gonna be mostly an author's block counter (it's not thought through. at all.)

The mental image of adorable little Tsu-kun sitting in front of a big black grand piano playing something as badass as Rachmaninoff was too much to resist writing.

Yup.

Though be warned – this fic isn't gonna be all glorious concerts for Tsuna. Nope. Because being a pianist means concerts and stuff are not just the top of ice berg - they're the skin of an apple. Because honestly, even Reborn is naïve to think that all there is to music is correctly memorizing the keys and relying on talent to keep the audience occupied.


	2. Sawada Tsunayoshi

**Music Can Be As Badass As Mafia**

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**Full Summary:** ...And keys can proclaim one's will just as well as flames can. When Reborn comes to Namimori to train the Tenth Vongola boss, he anticipates an average homeschooling student with barely any athletic skills whatsoever and an inclination to get a musical education, as per the info Reborn received. Instead, he finds out that everything is much more serious. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a... well-known and greatly loved pianist? Though still a hysterical one, at that.

Instead of dumping the mafia world on the boy's head, Reborn is the one who is thrown into an equally as crazy and hectic world of music schools, jury politics, competitions and back stages in which Tsuna is more known as Yoshi, though he still is Tsuna to people who know him closely, and he is nearly not as awkward nor as talentless and bullied as he seems to be in everyday society. Though it's not as if Reborn can be thrown off so easily, huh?

* * *

**Warnings:** AU, Talented!Tsuna, Musically-gifted!Tsuna, Smarter!Tsuna, passing OCs, (musical) language, Italian terms and a big amount of music-related plot. Musical instruments ahoy!

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"Ciaossu."

The water from the tap dripped in the ensued silence.

Reborn watched with well-hidden amusement the scene of two pairs of different-hued brown eyes zeroing down on him with screaming similarity, one Sawada Nana lightly cocking her head with a puzzled expression as she was in mid-step with a basket of laundry on her way to the back of the house, and one Sawada Tsunayoshi who blinked down at him from beside the kitchen sink where he was pouring water into a numerous vase and was about to lower a bouquet of roses into it, though he was having trouble fitting the whole bunch in.

No wonder – it was huge. Reborn wondered if the Satsuki girl from earlier today did get to the stage with the roses. Though it didn't explain the countless other ones.

Well, Reborn hadn't really stayed to see all the flowers get passed on to the young pianist – though he'd seen how the boy was forced to run behind the scenes with one portion of the flowers and return back for the rest – so it was natural there was more than the baby remembered. Reborn had left the hall and almost bumped – though he didn't, because he was Reborn after all – into the aggressive black-haired teen with the red armband from earlier.

The boy had been leaning onto the doorframe but, unlike before, he didn't emanate a deadly aura, instead watching passively from the shadows, his eyes gleaming from the darkness much alike to those of a predatory animal.

Not hungry one, no.

He had observed the commotion in the front rows from behind and if the hitman wasn't mistaken – and he was never mistaken, especially in reading subtle language – the teen's lips were quirked upwards in a mix of amusement, leisure, and almost unnoticeable but still present enjoyment.

The raven-haired had glanced down at Reborn impassively and the Sun Arcobaleno met the sharpened steel grey with a slight smirk of his own. The teen didn't bother waiting for either of them to break the stare and with a quiet 'hn' turned around, his black jacket sweeping behind him – points for the high-quality dramatics – as he opened the doors to hint that the concert had ended and then stormed down the aisles much to the displeasure and terror of the people as he muttered something sounding like 'discipline obsessive female herbivores'. From the looks of it, the front rows really did need some disciplining.

Reborn left to the sound of female (and not only) screams for mercy.

All the while, the hitman had been going over his newly-acquired information - and this was _very_ newly-acquired information indeed. So the Yoshi boy everyone in Namimori knew and loved was Sawada Tsunayoshi, meaning that Sawada Tsunayoshi was a full-fledged pianist.

Reborn had shook his head.

Repeat.

Sawada Tsunayoshi was a pianist, or, at least, on a very steady path to becoming one.

Somehow, at the time, Reborn had had a bit of trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that the boy currently onstage was the same person as the future student he was to train into the Tenth Vongola boss.

And that Sawada Tsunayoshi embraced a whole concert hall with an ease and Power of a true Sky in his natural domain.

But he wouldn't be Reborn if he hadn't taken the challenge, right? He'd promised Nono and he will keep his word.

And so, he had waited for the phone call from Nana which he only got two hours later, after he saw both the woman and her son pull up in front of their house on a car - on further observation, the hitman realized that it wasn't their's because Nana had thanked the driver for giving them a ride and Tsunayoshi had thanked him too, smiling, which earned a blush from the driver much to Reborn's bemusement, though he didn't get to see the smile itself from the angle he had been watching from.

Twenty minutes later, after entering the house and not bothering to ring the bell, his greeting was met with a thoughtful pause.

Right now though, the hitman was productively using the moments of quiet, with unusual patience waiting for a response from either of the Sawadas, and meanwhile observing the house, or rather, the part of it that he could currently see.

Behind Tsunayoshi, on the table - the boy really did look fragile and the humongous bouquet of flowers he was holding wasn't doing him any favor looking any less so - were at least three long rows of vased bouquets of all the colors one could imagine. (Reborn wondered where people got the black orchids in a pot. That was just plain exclusive.)

The kitchen was otherwise clean if not for the cut-off stems of some of the bouquets lying on the kitchen counter and from the looks of it, the boy was used to doing this if the almost professional way the stems were snipped off was anything to go by.

Reborn could glimpse a side of a small brown piano in the entrance corner to the living room - no, not a grand piano contrary to what Reborn thought; the boy ought to have a grand piano otherwise how would he practice to such heights? - and he could even from this angle see the cluster of papers lying on the instrument's lid in utter chaos.

Reborn's eyes narrowed. Couldn't Iemitsu afford a better instrument for his son? Honestly, if the man had planned for Tsunayoshi to stay unrelated to mafia, surely supplying his only child with a proper grand piano was the least he could have done, because from the looks of it, the instrument Tsunayoshi had was, to put it lightly, not of the best.

Come to think of it, Iemitsu could've warned both Nono and Reborn of his son's future profession because the way Reborn found about it just earlier today had drastically changed many of the plans he had. It was one thing if the information he received was true - which it was not and Reborn would personally take measures for the intelligence-gathering to never be done so poorly - and the boy was drifting through his life with no plans for a career whatsoever and a perfect opportunity for him, the Sun Arcobaleno Reborn, to meddle with the boy's life as he pleased, but it was another thing entirely if the boy had a purposeful and esteemed idea and not only idea but a very possible future of it.

Reborn had come to train a teenager who wasn't occupied with anything else, not to take away a hard-earned future the boy had lying in front of him.

The CEDEF boss was an idiot and Reborn could sign under that statement, but Iemitsu couldn't have been _that_ stupid, could he? Because if didn't even bother to know his only son's career path...

Reborn was snapped out of his thoughts as he saw the boy put down the vase on the table next to the other vases with a small _clang! _and walk over to him, crouching to the baby's level. The hitman was slightly surprised by the soft kindness residing in the boy's golden brown eyes and that was the moment that Reborn realized that Tsunayoshi wasn't a victim of a superiority complex despite the clear popularity he had among his audience.

Though even with that, Reborn was having trouble comprehending how this boy with a weak aura and gentle smile could be the same pianist who performed earlier in the evening with the strong-willed eyes of a grown-up musician. It was still a mystery to be unraveled.

Nana had hurriedly put down the basket on the washing machine and walked up too.

"Ara? Are you lost? Where are your parents, aka-chan?" The dark-haired woman asked worriedly, not at all thrown off by Reborn's appearance which the hitman could already see as an advantage.

The boy however, despite the seeming gentleness and ignorance in his eyes, had narrowed his eyes a bit too warily. "Can we help you?" he asked, albeit quite hesitantly, and Reborn found himself under two scrutinizing gazes.

Fed up with the surprises, Reborn did the logical thing and kicked the boy for leaning so much in the baby's private space (though he was careful not to hit the hands - they were sure to be sacred to the boy.)

That was another problem, Reborn thought as he watched Tsunayoshi sail over through the air with a surprised gasp. The boy will be subjected to much violence and breaking a finger or arm might be the least of the injuries he might receive which even Reborn knew would mean the end of the boy's successful career.

But on the other hand, it could also serve as a reason for the boy to agree to train to fight because Reborn had a big suspicion that the brunet won't take the news about his heritage lightly. Maybe, he could convince the boy to learn fighting to protect himself and his career. Yes, he would try that...

...a bit later.

After he observed Tsuna's way of life.

Reborn smirked as he realized that he referred to the boy as Tsuna. That was more like himself - with all the discoveries that evening, he was loosing his usually unbreakable inner composure.

Tsuna had smashed into the wall, though not as harshly as if Reborn wasn't careful - not that Tsuna knew - and he let out a predicted yelp. Although his eyes had narrowed even further as he, quite quickly, regained his footing and continued to stare at the baby who smirked.

"I am your home tutor, Reborn."

Nana, not one to be surprised by this episode, or, in fact, by anything at all, had clasped her hands. "Ara! Reborn-chan, right? You must be tired from the travel! Would you like something to eat, Reborn-chan?" She smiled so sweetly and innocently that Reborn was left unsure as to exactly what Nana knew in spite of his mind-reading abilities. The woman had continued talking about how quickly he arrived - after all, she only got to phone him less than half an hour ago - and how punctual he must be and on and on.

The boy's thoughts on the whole matter were quite evident though as he scratched his head with a hand where he bumped it into the wall and looked at the small blotch of red thoughtfully, glancing up at the baby and momentarily, their gazes met.

Tsunayoshi, Reborn had concluded, was not stupid and that was for sure.

Reborn graciously accepted the offer on food, following Nana into the kitchen to settle for a cup of espresso as he absently heard her apologies about the mess of petals and leaves.

Out of the corner of his eye, Reborn looked at the boy who was watching him unblinking though it was obvious that he wasn't buying it. He saw the boy voicelessly mutter, "Right." The brunet thoughtfully wiped the specks of blood on his pants and slowly entered the kitchen, all the while trying to look innocent in spite of continuously eyeing Reborn as he edged to a happily-humming Nana, reluctantly averting his gaze from him to his mother.

The boy was clearly trying to imitate his mother's nonchalance, though he still had a long way to go before he reached Nana's level of proficiency in that department.

"Kaa-san, I have an algebra test tomorrow and I've got a repetition with Kimura-sensei at the music school. And additional solfeggio. I don't think I have enough money for the train so could you give me some?"

Nana smiled at Tsuna and nodded cheerfully as she finished the coffee and served it to Reborn with a plate of sandwiches.

"Of course, Tsu-kun! Will Sasagawa-chan go to the additional lesson with you too?"

Tsuna looked away and Reborn could see the red blush painting the boy's face.

"Y-yes." He stuttered, evidently happily.

The inner joy was as apparent as the sun on a clear day and the hitman had inclined his head to view the entertaining scene, sipping the - goddamn delicious; Nana was a saint - espresso with pleasure.

Watching the boy with amusement, Reborn plotted.

...

The next day came and Reborn discovered that his student loved his beauty sleep.

Too bad that Reborn didn't.

The kick to the boy's head resulted in much flailing and screeching, and the hitman thought that the day decidedly started very well.

Tsuna's eyes had snapped open as he saw Reborn's smirk and he scampered - with a speed Reborn didn't give the boy the credit for having until now - off the bed, bolting through the doorway and down the stairs.

The crash had notified Reborn of the intimate meeting between Tsuna and the floor.

The hitman shook his head and almost-sighed.

His student was as clumsy as- well, Reborn didn't even have an example. The boy's clumsiness was in a league of it's own. It was another thing he'd have to beat out of the boy.

The baby headed downstairs to see the brunet sprawled on the ground in a tangle of limbs though the boy quite rapidly jumped up and said a quick 'good morning' to Nana who smiled at him and handed him a plate with toast and omelet.

When Reborn took his rightful place at the table and glanced at the boy, he was slightly surprised to see the previous terror from waking up to Reborn's foot completely wiped away by the happy light bouncing in Tsuna's eyes.

"Tsuna, what are you so happy about?" He asked casually.

The boy had looked at him - trying to hide his fear though it was futile; Reborn could _smell_ fear - and gulped. "A-ah, it's nothing."

Quietly, he added, "It's none of your business."

Before Reborn could shoot the boy right then and there with Leon, the boy got a light cuff from Nana who happened to pass by and hear him. "Tsu-kun, that's rude!"

The boy had sighed and his shoulders slumped, though after a minute, he'd reverted to the daydream state with those glittery-eyes of his.

That wouldn't do.

While Tsuna smiled about that girl he was supposed to go to school with - the reason for the brunet's state was obvious enough - Reborn hopped up to him and snatched the food away.

To his annoyance, the boy didn't seem to notice.

The collision of Leon's baseball bat form with the boy's head had brought the latter's attention back to the earth though. Tsuna had the most annoying 'hiii' sound, Reborn had decided.

A few minutes later, the boy headed back upstairs - again meeting the floor somewhere half-way there - and came back fully dressed as he took the half-full school bag and went over to the piano, loading the bag with some of the clipped papers and textbooks.

Reborn had glimpsed a quite frightening amount of black on the pages which, he presumed, were the respective notes.

"Oh, so you have a lesson with Kimura-sensei today after all, Tsu-kun?" Nana had asked while cleaning the dishes as she glanced to the particular stack of papers Tsunayoshi was about to put into the bag.

Tsuna shrugged. "I might end up having it. If we end the repetition early, we could get a class and practice for a bit. You know, every minute is important right now since I've got a competition in a month."

Reborn listened intently, filing away information with lightning speed.

"Tsu-kun, please try to get Kimura-sensei to play the second partition for the concerto with you. At least once! You know Kimura-sensei - you've got to nudge him a bit or else he might simply forget to."

Tsuna sighed. "Right, because even with all the hysterics he had when I told him I was gonna play this concerto, he can go and forget that his student has a competition." The boy frowned and shook his head. "Sorry, I'm complaining again. At least Hibari-senpai allowed me to borrow the music class for more than three hours today! Hooray for the grand piano!" The boy emitted sky-high excitement. "I won't be back until six, kaa-san, so I'll eat out, okay?"

"Of course Tsu-kun!" The woman smiled.

"I'm off then!"

Reborn hopped off the chair and followed the boy as the latter put on his shoes and left the house.

The boy didn't appear to notice him as he dug into his bag and took out a solfeggio textbook, eyes running over the page with voice exercises while he walked as he hummed the melodies lightly under his breath. When the hitman hopped right on his head from a wall, he was utterly delighted at the flailing reaction he got from the teen.

"R-Reborn?"

Ah, the stutter. Got to beat that out too. "Yes, Dame-Tsuna." The nickname slid off the hitman's tongue as if he'd always used it. The boy flinched but didn't say anything as he continued walking on in silence, though he'd put away the text-book and was as quiet as a mouse.

Frankly, it was strange.

The boy hadn't in this whole time even once asked who the hell Reborn was and why did he decide to live in one room with Tsuna without the latter's permission.

The baby had a suspicion that Tsuna was trying his best to copy his mother's ignorant behavior but if that was it, he was failing horribly. Reborn would have to find out why Tsuna was trying to do that, later.

Not one to be ignored, Reborn poked at the brunet with a question.

"You have a competition soon?"

Tsuna glanced at him and nodded, a bit shakily. "Yeah, next month."

"Hm." Reborn snorted. "Is it a hard one?" The boy must be playing something from yesterday because really, the length of the performance was still quite astounding.

The boy seemed more thoughtful than terrified now and Reborn found that he was wrong. "Well, I guess that it's not one of the hardest ones. I've already passed on the second round and I've got to play Bach's English Suite - I'm playing the third g-moll one, also an Allegro from a classical sonata - I got Mozart's thirteenth, a couple of Cherny's and Mozshkovsky's studies and Andante Maestoso- it's a piece from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and I found a piano edition! And if I get to the third round, I get to play the second and third part of Bach's E-dur concerto with orchestra. Yeah, some competitions are much harder and- Reborn?"

The hitman had a deadpan face as he looked at the brunet.

Right. So this is what counted as normal for his student.

The fact that just yesterday, a gigantic program was played by this- this thirteen-year-old, and that he still had more in store... Exactly how good was the boy's memory? Reborn exhaled sharply.

"Dame-Tsuna," again the flinch, "Do you have anything else you play aside from this and what you played yesterday?"

The boy turned red. "Y-you heard me y-yesterday?" Reborn could hear the mental 'hiiii' and feeling annoyed, he pulled a lock of hair to hear heavenly screams of pain. "Yes, I did. Now answer the question."

"Okay, okay! Just not the hair!" Tsuna waved his arms. "I've got a few studies, Chopin's waltz and Rachmaninoff's fifth prelude in work and two of his Musical Moments - the h-moll and e-moll ones. And, well, pretty much half of what I played yesterday is something I've gotta practice a lot more. Leave much to be desired."

Reborn nodded with a slightly distant expression.

This boy is a wimp but regarding his memory, he is _something _and coming from Reborn that is a very, _very_ respective thing to be proud of, though the boy didn't even know about Reborn's thoughts, instead fidgeting his fingers nervously as he tried to understand whether the hitman's reaction was negative or not.

Just as Reborn was about to ask something else, he felt the boy stop in his tracks. The hitman looked down to almost get hit with a sparkle that were bursting from the boy in frightening numbers. Reborn looked up and saw the reason.

"Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna almost jogged to the girl who rounded the corner and looked at the boy with wide eyes before smiling brightly and waving.

"Sawada-kun, good morning!" The girl - Kyoko - greeted Tsuna enthusiastically. Reborn jumped off the brunet's head which immediately caught attention from the girl who leaned to take a good look at him.

"What a cute baby!" She exclaimed cheerily. Reborn glanced at the Sawada boy and saw him watch the bright-haired girl with a dreamy expression. Kyoko had stood up and faced Tsuna, "Is this baby your brother? He's a sweetheart! I didn't know you had one."

The boy looked a bit depressed that the Sasagawa had asked him such a thing but he, sparing a small glance at Reborn, looked thoughtful for a few seconds. Reborn could see the wheels turn in his head and thoughts like 'Kyoko-chan won't believe that he's a home tutor anyway' almost written on his face. Slowly, he nodded "...Yeah, something like that. Though he's not my brother, he's a-" another hesitant glance at the baby and an audible gulp, "-he's a distant cousin, Reborn."

The girl chattered happily about something obliviously while Reborn jumped and kicked the boy in the stomach. "Dame-Tsuna, if you lie, you should at least do it with a straight face. I am his home tutor, Reborn."

To the evident despair of the boy, Kyoko only blinked and giggled. "Reborn-chan is doing acrobatics? And he's teaching Sawada-kun? So cute!"

A ringtone sounded and the girl took out her cellphone, flipping it open. She turned to Tsuna and sighed. "I'm sorry Sawada-kun, I have to run now - let's meet up after school so we can leave together!"

With that, the cheerful girl was off, running at a speed Reborn raised an eye brow at.

The boy still sitting on the pavement looked fairly sad because obviously, he'd been looking forward to walking with the girl to school.

Well, this was the perfect time.

Reborn turned to the boy, eyes shadowed by his fedora forebodingly. "Dame-Tsuna. Why don't you confess to Sasagawa Kyoko?"

Reborn never saw such a deep red on a human's face.

"I- I, um, I don't-"

The hitman raised his finger and Leon crawled on it, transforming into a gun.

Tsuna's eyes widened impossibly wide, the light in them quivering frantically as he tried to sprint up and run away as Reborn raised his gun.

The boy let out a terrified scream just as the hitman fired and he dropped his bag as he hit the ground.

A couple of seconds later though, he was back on his feet and a flame engulfed his forehead.

"REBORN!" Tsuna yelled. "I SHALL TELL KYOKO-CHAN WITH MY DYING WILL!"

With that, the scrawny boy was off.

Without his clothes, that is.

Of course, Reborn reasoned, this was all for the sake of introducing Tsuna to the mafia world, but still. Seeing his students embarrass themselves brought immeasurable amusement. He wasn't even sorry for being one to sully the boy's hard-earned reputation, because after all, such a state would surely bring disgust from others?

Though, he should've known that the boy was yet to surprise him. Because Tsuna hadn't exactly said what he wanted to tell Kyoko.

The hitman arrived at the gates of the school just in time to see the scene unfold, and he watched as the boy sped down the street, half-naked and all, and ran up to the bright-haired girl.

He was not, however, prepared for the next.

"KYOKO-CHAN."

The girl stared at Tsuna and blinked.

"Yes, Sawada-kun..? Aren't you cold without your clothes?"

"NO. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN. KYOKO-CHAN?"

"Yes, Sawada-kun?"

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO SING RACHMANINOFF'S 'VOCALISE' WITH MY ACCOMPANIMENT?"

The students that have already formed a wide circle around the scene gasped, clasping their hands over their mouths and instead of the anticipated, by Reborn, comments of pervertism, he saw that some of the girls were 'aww'ing.

Reborn watched as in the ensuing silence, the flame ran out on Tsuna's forehead, though the only difference was the profuseful blushing as he continued to look earnestly at the other girl, now with his large brown doe eyes.

The hitman saw some females turn pink as they squealed 'kawaii'.

Kyoko had gasped as well, staring at Tsuna.

Then she brightened and smiled widely, glitters of happiness sprinkling off her.

"...Of course, Sawada-kun! I'd love to!"

And to Reborn's never ending surprise, the two were off to find Tsuna some clothes and an instrument as the crowd dispersed with some girls watching Kyoko enviously and some discussing the first-class gossip material this was. The raven-haired from the Disciplinary Committee, if the arm band was anything to go by, that had too been watching this whole scene unfold had looked sharply at another teen with a strange haircut - a subordinate obviously - and the other teen nodded, as he spoke into a radio and sprinted after Tsuna and Kyoko with a set of clothes that seemed to arrive in his possession from another teen with a similar haircut who just came running with them from the school building.

Dame-Tsuna had an undeniable talent for screwing up plans, even Reborn's.

* * *

So. About how Reborn is 'softer' with Tsuna than in canon – did you notice that Reborn is very respective of people who have a goal and do everything to achieve it? Like with Yamamoto's baseball or Hibari's disciplining people or Ryohei's boxing. Did you ever see Reborn hit Takeshi? No. Did you ever see Reborn hit Ryohei? No. Did you ever see Reborn hit Hiba- ah. I don't think _anyone_ hit Hibari, even if they don't respect his work. So yeah, Reborn respects Tsuna's profession choice and what Tsuna must be doing to achieve it, but he still hits him when he shows whimpiness. I hope that explained some things.

*clears throat* So. Next chapter - Reborn witnesses Tsuna's very, very normal day.


	3. Themes and Ensembles

**Music Can Be As Badass As Mafia**

* * *

**Full Summary:** ...And keys can proclaim one's will just as well as flames can. When Reborn comes to Namimori to train the Tenth Vongola boss, he anticipates an average homeschooling student with barely any athletic skills whatsoever and an inclination to get a musical education, as per the info Reborn received. Instead, he finds out that everything is much more serious. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a... well-known and greatly loved pianist? Though still a hysterical one, at that.

Instead of dumping the mafia world on the boy's head, Reborn is the one who is thrown into an equally as crazy and hectic world of music schools, jury politics, competitions and back stages in which Tsuna is more known as Yoshi, though he still is Tsuna to people who know him closely, and he is nearly not as awkward nor so talentless and bullied as he seems to be in out-of-school society. Though it's not as if Reborn can be thrown off so easily, huh?

* * *

**Warnings:** AU, Talented!Tsuna, Musically-gifted!Tsuna, Smarter!Tsuna, passing OCs, (musical) language, Italian terms and a big amount of music-related plot. Musical instruments ahoy!

* * *

"Look, it's Sawada-san!"

"It's really him!"

"Yoshi-kun? Oh my god!"

"Hey, Sawada! What's up?"

"We loved your performance yesterday, Yoshi-san!"

"It was so awesome!"

"We can't wait for your next concert! Are you playing on the festival?"

Tsuna waved sheepishly as he entered the class via the door, nodding slightly awkward greetings and 'thank you's to the star and heart-eyed people and nodding to the last question too. He quickly found his seat by the window - it was always vacant even if he didn't attend classes regularly.

When the other students more or less calmed down and stopped crowding around his desk, he turned to look out of the window at the clear blue sky, externally looking just slightly worried with a frown settled on his features.

Internally, he was almost screaming.

He was pretty much screaming since yesterday when a very suspicious baby in a fedora appeared in his house and single-handedly sent him flying into a wall for no apparent reason.

What was worse was the fact that the baby whose name was Reborn had come promising more trouble than Tsuna _ever_ encountered and he knew it with his guts or whatever worked as that bad feeling nagging him till he just couldn't _not_ pay attention. His survival instincts, paranoia and any other feeling with a voice were frying with tension and to top it all off, the boy could still feel Reborn watching him.

_It's just my paranoia. My paranoia, I said!_

He clutched his head and would've groaned if not for where he was at the moment.

First, the baby proclaimed himself as his _home tutor_, and even if Tsuna admitted that he could use one to heighten his just slightly above average grades, Reborn was most certainly, quite surely, _definitely_ not something called a _normal home tutor_.

Tsuna was still amazed by how smoothly kaa-san dealt with it. He really wished that he could be more like that and ignore things with at least half as much skill as his mother did.

And then Reborn had barged into Tsuna's room, _just like that_, and started assembling _clearly_ not toy weapons around himself without even so much as _glancing_ at Tsuna. And when he set up a hammock, Tsuna only got to raise a shaking hand to ask if he'd like a futon instead when he was faced with a gun barrel to the nose and prompted to shut up, silently change into his pajamas, climb under the blanket, close his eyes and internally go crazy with panic.

But that was okay, he guessed.

Well, no, what was he talking about, it was _very_ not okay, but Tsuna realized after what happened today that he could've coped with such impudence if that was the only problem.

_He's a freaking _baby_! He freaking _shot_ me! Right between the _freaking_ eyes! That's freaking _not_ normal!_

He wanted to use a stronger word than 'freaking' but his inner discipline didn't allow that. The mental shock from being shot still shook Tsuna to the core. In that single moment that the bullet imbedded into him, he'd thought of the tons of regrets and 'didn't get to do's he had. He didn't give kaa-san a birthday present yet. He hadn't tried Rachmaninoff's second concert yet, or the Campanella. And the competition he'd been aiming for half a year now - he absolutely _couldn't_ miss the competition! That would be _so_ letting down people! There was so much he expected to do, so much he expected from himself, so much he expected after he found this one profession where he wasn't a complete Dame, from trying to spend some normal time with his friends from the musical school to jumping with a parachute if he could.

But most of all, what he regretted _most_ of all - he didn't ask Kyoko to sing the Vocalise with his accompaniment yet.

Kyoko-chan had a heavenly voice and an innate ability to express emotions through it. Tsuna had heard her singing in the musical school and such an angelic sound was very rare. And, well, of course there was a matter that he had- Kyoko-chan- she was so beautiful and amazing and her voice was so wonderful and he- he-

The other students had stopped their conversations to find the source of a choir of angels singing and they're gazes met the quiet teen who was sitting in the far corner and oozing with such pure rejoicing that they all blushed.

Though Tsuna's expression darkened as he remembered what happened after.

He ran through the whole town in his boxers. In the daylight. In front of the school.

If anyone on the streets recognized him, he was _doomed_. His hard-earned reputation that he just only discovered a little while ago would be totally ruined. The sheer embarassment of him just standing in front of Kyoko-chan - _Kyoko-chan_! - half-naked was so horrifying it wasn't funny. An image of a devilishly smirking Reborn crossed Tsuna's mind and he shuddered.

Though he brightened when he remembered what came after. Kyoko-chan agreed to sing Vocalise! She was even _happy_! Tsuna glanced to the right and blushed lightly when Kyoko caught his gaze and smiled at him. Tsuna smiled back and flowers bloomed in the classroom and the girls in the back of the class restrained themselves from cooing at the sight.

Kyoko-chan still outweighed the previous misfortunes for Tsuna.

Before anything else could happen, the teacher came in and everybody stood up, though soon sitting down as he waved them down. Tsuna chewed his nails nervously as he awaited the start of the test.

...

The next forty five minutes flew by quickly and Reborn shifted slightly in his hiding place - he'd already made them throughout the whole school as a proper mafia man and number one hitman.

Tsuna's face, he thought, is surprisingly expressive. Really, he wears his heart on his sleeve and one could easily tell what's going on in Dame-Tsuna's head. Reborn would have to deal with that - the brunet should at least be a bit more discreet about his emotions if he planned on surviving in the mafia.

Not that Tsuna knew about that yet... But it didn't acquit him.

The bell rang and the papers were passed to the teacher. The Sawada was so obviously nervous that it annoyed Reborn. The hitman watched as Tsuna took his belongings and stuffed them swiftly into the schoolbag as he shot to the exit, though not before stopping in front of a couple of polite-looking girls and asking them something. They both listened and nodded, seemingly assuring him of something.

Reborn followed the boy out of the class, deciding to just see what that was all about instead of figuring it all out. The brunet quickly - almost running - half-sprinted down the corridor, bounding up the stairs and turning right to the very end. Once he got there, he looked around to see if there anyone he was disturbing and after that, slid open the door and disappeared inside.

The hitman heard the rustle of opening pages and soon enough, he heard the music start.

Once again, at the strong and powerful sound pouring through the door, Reborn wondered if that weakling of a boy was the person as the one currently in the class. The baby stuck his head inside and he decided that yes, this was Sawada Tsunayoshi.

The notes on the note stand read 'J. S. Bach, Concerto No.2 for Klavier and Orchestra, E-Dur' and even if they were present, Tsuna was clearly playing by heart because the pages weren't even opened on the place he was playing.

This, he realized, was why on some level, he respected the boy so deeming it rightful to, Reborn left Tsuna to his devices, instead deciding to go inspect the school and look for some suitable candidates for Guardianship and see how the teachers would react to Tsuna's absence.

Frankly, he would understand if they were okay with it.

...

When he did come back, it was just in time to witness a few very delinquent-looking young men approach the door in the far end of the corridor. Reborn watched the upper-classmen whisper among each other as they pointed at the class Tsuna's playing could be heard from. Soon, they gestured to each other and as quietly as they could, entered the room for a reason the hitman had a suspicion he knew of. He followed them inside to see them round on Tsunayoshi and it seemed that the boy only noticed them when they were practically standing behind him, if a key suddenly breaking off was anything to go by.

The punks had started insulting him and strangely enough, out of the things the boy could look, he looked _bored_.

(**A/N:** If possible, insert 'Hibari's theme'. I _insist_.)

Then suddenly he perked up and seemed to wait for something, paying no attention to the other students, and after about a minute, he put on a dramatic face and raised his hands over the keyboard, starting to play a foreboding theme consisting of arpeggios with perfect timing as a certain prefect swept into the classroom to the shrieks of the students who were hoping to avoid this. Tsuna put on a serious face of a full-fledged pianist with an appropriate air of drama and 'briskly' threw an accord as if in a finishing move.

The hitman nearly lost it when he heard the hiss of a window sliding open as a perfect ensemble of two violins, a trumpet and a beat from Tsuna's foot ensued. The baby glanced at the window to the class and saw three other students lined up with their respective instruments, with similarly serious faces, though there was an evident hint that they were clearly enjoying the look of shock on the bullies faces.

Reborn was, however, even more amused by Tsuna who had somehow timed the short piece he was playing to Hibari's entrance.

Meanwhile, as if perfectly for the scene, Reborn watched Hibari smirk, "Herbivores. I shall bite you to death for interfering with Sawada Tsunayoshi's practice." And with that started beating the unfortunate (though they very much deserved it) students up. Tsunayoshi continued holding a perfect rhythm in the beat of his foot, even clapping the first beat of the four, though soon he joined the ensemble with the same arpeggio theme as before taking the intensity of the piece higher and higher and just as the last upper-classmen fell to the ground, the theme ended with dark finishing chords.

Tsuna stood up from his chair and walked over to the window with a poker face identical to the ones the other students wore and they all exchanged high-fives, completely ignoring the pile of groaning (and very disbelieving) boys on the ground.

Hibari looked very pleased as he sheathed his tonfas and left the scene with a noticeable quirk of his lips.

The spectators in the face of curious students that have been watching the whole scene because it was the big recess applauded profusefully, occasional snorts and short laughs heard.

Reborn was convinced that they all had a strangely weird yet hilarious sense of humour rivaling with his own.

He wondered exactly what was Sawada Tsunayoshi's norm because this wasn't even the first half of the day yet.

* * *

**A/N:** ...Blame the chocolate cake for the randomness. I'm sooooo high right now it's not even funny. And please forgive me for the outrageous shortness - I wanted to post something as quickly as I could, regardless of the quality - I did say that this was just an author's block counter. So I see fit to announce that I also officially give up on trying to make this story at least mildly sensible. Sorry. Not gonna happen. This is a dump of craziness and I'll let it be that way unfortunately. Though here's a ray of hope - I might edit this once I get the time to.

Yes, I think I will. This chapter was disastrous, really.

On a side note, could you please visit my page and vote on the pole I have there? It's really important to me!

And Happy New Year everybody! I don't know if people celebrate New Year or not, what with Christmas and all, but in Russia we do so I'll congratulate you all anyway. May all your wishes come true this year, don't let the measly troubles and negatives get to you, always ask yourselves if you will remember an 'end of the world' problem a year later and always try to look on the bright side. Oh, and s a friendly advice for the future year, never think that there's nothing that can go wrong. Please don't make that mistake. You know, Murphy's law. Just don't- don't think. At all. Usually, that helps me so I will stop rambling and wish you all, who cares to read this, good health, loyal friends, no arguments with your lived ones and for what is sacred to you to stay sacred no matter what others say! ^^ Good luck, minna-san!

Love, peace and cookies

River Melody

P.S. Here are some gingerbread cookies! *offers a plate of cookies*


	4. Music School

**Music Can Be As Badass As Mafia**

* * *

**Full Summary:** ...And keys can proclaim one's will just as well as flames can. When Reborn comes to Namimori to train the Tenth Vongola boss, he anticipates an average homeschooling student with barely any athletic skills whatsoever and an inclination to get a musical education, as per the info Reborn received. Instead, he finds out that everything is much more serious. Sawada Tsunayoshi is a... well-known and greatly loved pianist? Though still a hysterical one, at that.

Instead of dumping the mafia world on the boy's head, Reborn is the one who is thrown into an equally as crazy and hectic world of music schools, jury politics, competitions and back stages in which Tsuna is more known as Yoshi, though he still is Tsuna to people who know him closely, and he is nearly not as awkward nor so talentless and bullied as he seems to be in out-of-school society. Though it's not as if Reborn can be thrown off so easily, huh?

* * *

**Warnings:** AU, OOC, Talented!Tsuna, Musically-gifted!Tsuna, Smarter!Tsuna, Sometimes-snarky-and-sassy!Tsuna, passing OCs, (musical) language, Italian terms and a big amount of music-related plot. Musical instruments ahoy!

Any and all characters you don't recognize, or music schools, or any other non-canon content is purely made up with no reference or hint to anything whatsoever. Don't try looking up anything - I just feel stupid when I say 'Tsuna's music school' every time. It gets annoying so I made it a name.

* * *

"Hm... Okay Sawada-kun, let's quiz each other! I need to brush up on the related tonalities and the tritones. You don't mind giving me a couple?"

"Sure, Kyoko-chan! And could you give me a few for the characteristic intervals? And if possible - some chromatics? I still have problems with them."

"Sawada-kun, everyone has problems with them! Besides, it's very new material and no one - well, except for Akiyama-sensei - expects it perfectly from you. There isn't even a set spelling that everyone agrees on! Though I think as complex as Akiyama-sensei's is, it's the most sensible."

"You mean the 'no changing third and sixth steps in ascending and first and fifth in descending major'?"

"Yes. And the 'first and fifth' in minor too. It's quite obvious why we can't augment the third - there's a semitone there after all, but the sixth is something people argue about. Akiyama-sensei says we shouldn't change it because it creates a note that isn't in the diatonic of any related tonalities."

"I know, right? Remember she showed us the sequences?"

"The ones with the half-diminished seventh chords? That went into a Dominant and resoluted into all the related tonalities on each step, excluding the seventh in major and second in minor, of course?"

"Yeah! Honestly, that's the best way to explain the sixth step without axioms. Anyway, back to before!"

"Yes, Sawada-kun! Please start easy - I've gotta get my brains working."

"No problem. So... Let's say... Tell me the related tonalities to, say, E-dur?"

"Hm... That'd be the parallel cis-moll, the subdominant A-dur and it's parallel fis-moll, and the dominant H-dur and gis-moll."

"...And..? One more, Kyoko-chan?"

"Oh! I almost forgot - the tonality of harmonic relation, a-moll!"

"Great Kyoko-chan! Now, please tell me why the tonality of harmonic relation is in minor?"

"Aha, Sawada-kun, you're so amazing at imitating Akiyama-sensei! Okay, well, it's because in major harmonic mood the sixth step diminishes and creates a minor third in the subdominant chord, consequentially causing the minor mode!"

"Wow, Kyoko-chan, I really can't catch you off guard!"

"No no, Sawada-kun, I keep being reminded of things I should think of on my own!"

"Those are... helping questions. Even Akiyama-sensei makes those! Okay, so for a minor... cis-moll please. And do it by descending step - sensei might ask it that way."

"Un! So, that would be H-dur, A-dur, g-moll, f-moll, E-dur, plus G-dur as the harmonic relation."

"Exactly!"

"A few tonalities for the tritones now?"

"Of course. Is f-moll okay?"

"Just fine! Ano... Just a sec... Er... Okay, so the first pair, the natural minor, would be g and d-flat resoluting into a-flat and c - that's the diminished fifth - and d-flat and g resolutes into c and a-flat. That's the augmented fourth. The harmonic is e-natural and b resolving into f and a-flat, then there's b and e-natural resolving into a-flat and f."

"And the melodic mood?"

"Of course Sawada-kun, just a minute... Ano... I really can't believe how you don't have problems with the tritones. You just fire them off like you were born knowing them!"

"Haha, no Kyoko-chan... I just had a rather, hm, brutal solfeggio teacher before Akiyama-sensei who pretty much shoved every bit of theory she could into my head. I'm grateful, really, but her teaching methods were a bit... disturbing. Anyways, back to the melodic mood Kyoko-chan!"

Frankly, Reborn lost the thread of this casual conversation even before the two teenagers started talking about the 'relative' (the hell?) tonalities, whatever they were, and he was watching with very slight but nevertheless present fascination the brown-haired boy who eyed the hitman from time to time sharply, failing at any subtlety he might've counted for, though somehow the girl on his opposite didn't notice it so she was either very good at hiding her thoughts - which Reborn could not read - or she was just _that_ ignorant.

The hitman could not tell which was it and it was something that, very deep down, unnerved him, though not as much as Nana's attitude did. That woman's casual smile remained a mystery.

Come to think of it, both Kyoko and Tsuna seemed to completely change their behavior when they talked about the music stuff. It was odd because Reborn clearly remembered the endless bubbliness and cheerfulness from the girl earlier and the total embarrassment his student was in front of her but now however, Tsuna wore a very settled and composed demeanor while the Sasagawa was all seriousness as she listed the, what were they, tritons? What did amphibian creatures have to do with solfeggio?

Back at school, after witnessing that (cough funny cough) scene Tsuna organized - or didn't; he might just have a talent for being quick to adjust to a situation and use his sense of humor and skills to the fullest - the victims of the prefect were removed from the classroom and once the classes began, the crowds disappeared and the brunet went back to practicing his Bach concerto and after that, the English Suite he mentioned before.

For four hours straight.

As hardcore as Reborn was, adding that he knew physical training could last hours and whole days on, he found himself rather... respective of the boy's concentration span in something as brain-consuming as piano now appeared to be.

The teen had continuously repeated some pages, or sometimes small tacts, or even a couple of keys in the pieces in different rhythms and different touches until they went smoothly, sometimes breaking off in a middle of a phrase to sit for a few seconds, staring at the keyboard deep in thought, and then, as if coming to a mental conclusion, started repeating the place again, with exactly the same rhythm and dynamic plan, but with something a bit different.

Reborn noticed that each time, something changed and mostly for the better and he absently wondered exactly what that thing was. A few times Tsuna stopped to ruffle through the pages to the one he was playing - he couldn't turn them himself because he'd have to stop playing, Reborn assumed, though he didn't even have need in notes as he clearly knew them by heart - and, after some thought, wrote some numbers above the notation with a pencil that magically appeared in his possession. A few times, the boy, for some inexplicable reason, played with one hand while closing an ear with the other hand. He usually cringed while doing this, as if hearing something very bad. What was even more baffling was that Tsuna actually played better on some unidentified level after that.

A couple of times, the boy took out a sort of dictaphone or recorder and seemed to write down pieces and bits of what he played and - grimacing as if he was about to do something exceptionally gross - listened to the recording.

The boy would at certain points nod almost unnoticeably at what he heard, sometimes look at the text and underline or circle some particular places, sometimes scratch his head absently while tapping his finger impatiently - Reborn didn't know that it was Tsuna beating the rhythm that came wrong while he played - and at the end, he turned the device off, mouthing some colorful words with a highly displeased expression and then went back to playing.

Reborn had realized just about then that Tsuna was a merciless self-critic which pretty much explained most of Tsuna's success in his area. The hitman smirked - self-criticism that this boy had, not the self-destructive type but on the contrary, the constructive one that helped him improve himself, was a golden quality for a good mafia boss. And judging by the looks of it, Tsuna could properly analyze his own performance quite efficiently which was more than Reborn knew some could at the brunet's age or older.

Coincidentally, Reborn wondered since when the boy started learning the piano. Maybe from five or six, given the mastery over the instrument. Though how Iemitsu didn't notice his son's career choice still baffled the hitman. Tsuna must've been a gifted child from the very beginning - considering his level of technique.

When Tsuna finally finished - the cue being the school bell that announced the end of the last class - and put the notes back into his schoolbag, closing the grand piano carefully, Reborn had asked him, genuinely curious, if he usually practiced for this long. The brunet had dead-panned at him for a few minutes which annoyed the hitman causing him to smack the boy's face, though not as harshly as he could've.

Tsuna had pouted, rubbing the redness of his hurting nose, and said.

_"Reborn, this is nearly not as much as I usually do. I spend at least five or six, better seven hours if I'm home for all the day. It's just that today I had to attend school to write the test that I'm obligated to write plus I have to go to the music school for a repetition and solfeggio so I didn't have much time to really- oh my _God_, the time! Kyoko-chan must be waiting already! Later, Reborn!"_

And Reborn had watched his student dash out of the class with just a very slightly apprehensive expression.

When he caught up with Tsuna, it was to see him walk next to the bright-haired girl away from the school gates, chuckling at something Kyoko said.

"_Of course, Kyoko-chan, tomorrow is fine! After lessons, right? Hibari-senpai should allow me to use the music room if I'm lucky..._"

"_Great! You have _no idea_ how much I wanted to sing it... 'Vocalise' is ingenius, really!_"

The hitman jumped onto Tsuna's nest that were his hair, earning himself a startled exclamation from the boy and a squeal from the girl. Fully prepared to being at least hugged by the girl or something - not that he'd allow that; he would avoid it at any cost - he was disappointed when all he got was a closed-eyes smile from Kyoko after which she'd continued what she was talking about before, level-headedly, unlike what Reborn saw earlier today.

They had all arrived at a subway station and he'd asked exactly where they were all going.

_"Oh, Reborn-chan, didn't Sawada-kun tell you? Our music school's in Tokyo which is an hour's time ride from Namimori station!"_

_"Oh, right, I didn't warn you... Are you going to come with us Reborn?"_

_"...As a proper home tutor I must follow my student anywhere and know of his whereabouts at any time."_

_"My! Reborn-chan sure doesn't talk like a child!"_

_"...I know, right, Kyoko-chan?.."_

Which brought Reborn to the situation at hand.

The two teens were sitting next to each other and quizzing themselves on what appeared to be the strange science of solfeggio. Reborn had by then put on a poker face as he rode on the Sawada's head and through the rest of the hour, his brains tried to keep up with what the kids were talking about, in both a childishly casual and maturely complex manner.

He admitted that so far, he'd failed.

...

"Sawada-kun, could you wait for me for a sec?"

"Certainly! Did something happen, Kyoko-chan?"

"No, it's nothing drastic, I just got to take this call - it's really important. It won't take much time!"

"Of course, Kyoko-chan! Take all the time you need. Besides, we've got plenty of time."

"Thanks, Sawada-kun. I'll be back before you can say 'crescendo'!"

"Ahaha..."

"..."

"..."

"Dame-Tsuna?"

_Sigh._

"...Yes, Reborn?"

"What musical school do you attend again?"

"I never told you in the first place..."

_Growl_.

"Dame-Tsuna..."

"Why _are_ you so interested all of a sudden?"

"..."

"Ow! Stop it, Reborn!"

"Backtalking is rude, Dame-Tsuna. Answer the question now."

"Fine! It's the music school of Tokyo's college in the name of Chopin. Nothing special super top secret information or anything."

Reborn ignored the grumbling brunet, who huffed disbelievingly and folded his arms, staring at the ground apprehensively. Instead, Reborn's right eyebrow steadily crept up his forehead, despite the carefully blank face he (obviously) maintained.

If what he heard was right - which he definitely had, considering his quite sufficient hearing capabilities, thank you very much - then Dame-Tsuna studied in one of the three most prestigious children music schools of Tokyo and pretty much all of Japan (not mentioning conservatory, of course). While Reborn didn't exactly know every single school in the capital, he did know the top ones, including those with prioritized musical education.

Considering that the boy seemed very simple-minded and useless at first, though it wasn't really as surprising given yesterday's performance, it was still a rather impressive thing.

The hitman glanced down at Tsuna who had meanwhile started ruffling through his bag to check, yet again, if he took everything with him. Reborn noted, with some amusement, that Tsuna was a very paranoid creature which wasn't exactly a bad thing - on the contrary actually.

Before Reborn could ask anything else - like what grade Tsuna was in since grades in music schools don't always coincide with normal education ones - the bright-haired girl came back, all smiles and glitter plastered over her face as she snapped her phone shut and shoved it into a pocket.

"I'm back, Sawada-kun!"

The twinkle effects must be contagious because Dame-Tsuna was doing the annoying 'sparkle' thing too now.

"Alright, Kyoko-chan! Let's go!"

As he sat on the boy's shoulder, listening absently to the conversation between the children, Reborn's lips curled upwards.

...

"Oi, kid! You got a lesson today? I thought it was usually Mondays and Thursdays for you. And Saturday, yeah."

Tsuna looked up, blinking, and he smiled nervously.

"Himuro-san! Er, I have a repetition today."

"Splendid! Hope to hear you soon, Sawada!"

The boy laughed skittishly, scratching his head in an awkward manner and went back to putting on his spare shoes next to Kyoko. Reborn watched him curiously. The man was the janitor and he seemed to like the boy which meant a very good connection because, as everyone knows, knowing the janitor is the key to accessing an institution like this. It is very important to be on the good side of the janitor.

The girl stood up then, and smiled at the brunet.

"Okay, I've gotta go to my lesson now, Sawada-kun! See you in an hour!"

Kyoko walked past the janitor with a bright smile and disappeared up the stairs, clearing her throat on the way and humming something under her breath. Tsuna sighed dreamily after her but was snapped back to reality at Reborn's slap.

"Repetition. Now."

"O-oh, right."

The boy sprang up, putting away the shoes into a closet, and sprinted past the janitor, who gave Reborn a pointed look, though refraining from saying anything. Reborn wondered if the people around here are sharper than from Namimori and shrugged mentally, dismissing the thought.

When the boy disappeared around the corner and from the man's line of vision altogether, he breathed out a sigh of relief and slowed down a bit.

"He didn't ask about you. Thank heavens. Must've thought I was forced to babysit you or something."

The boy earned himself a kick for that.

"Dame-Tsuna, you do _not_ babysit me. In fact, I'm quite certain that it's the other way around."

"H-hey, that's not true!"

"Yes it is, and you're whining like a brat right now."

"I-I do _not_ whine- oh heck with it, I have more important things right now."

Tsuna stomped down the corridor angrily, blatantly ignoring the infant on his shoulder as he took a turn and stopped in front a door. He leaned to it with an ear to hear if anyone was playing.

"Oi, Dame-Tsuna. You've got a repetition - is it for a concert?"

The boy looked up at Reborn with a still irritated expression and nodded. "Yeah. It's supposed to be in a week."

Quietly, he opened the door and slipped inside without really being acknowledged by anyone in particular.

Reborn looked around curiously.

The school's concert hall was roughly half the size, maybe a bit more, of the one Tsuna played in yesterday, though despite the smaller size, this hall had a much more intimidating air about it, considering the rows of chairs that were actually meant to be there, unlike the stools that had been hastily put into the speeches hall of Namimori Middle so the audience could actually sit. The acoustics here were also clearly better, though Reborn personally knew this wasn't the extent of a concert hall acoustic capacity.

On the stage, two girls - maybe fifteen or sixteen - were playing on two grand pianos, in what appeared to be a duet. Standing behind them, waving in a passionate manner and from time to time humming as if trying to help the girl's playing in some way, was a rather short man in glasses and black hair. Though it was more like he almost ran around the instruments, frantic to pass on the mood he wanted to hear from the two female students and maybe or maybe not succeeding.

Tsuna tip-toed along the back row, cringing slightly at a creak, and settled in a chair in the end of the row, watching from afar those on stage with focused eyes that were an oddly illuminated ember color in the darkness of the hall. Reborn settled on the chair back next to Tsuna's.

The two girls had ended the piece by then and turned to look at the man, ready to hear whatever he had to say. Reborn glanced at Tsuna and was surprised to see that Tsuna looked like he had a _lot_ he wanted to say to the girls, though of course he remained silent.

The teacher clasped his hands and thinned his lips.

"Well... This has gotten better of course - though I expect you to know it by heart in, at the very most, one week. I can hear phrases - though you should pay more attention to you left hand, Setsuna, while it has a very important line, you should keep it a few degrees quieter so the melody in your right is prominent enough. Overall, everything is sort of fine but... How can I put it, you play in a very... careful and intelligent manner. But this is Rachmaninoff! It must be more- more everything! There must be more passion and emotions! Look, this place." The man leaned over one of the grand pianos and demonstrated a small piece as an example, making it obvious that he wanted it to be much more powerful and strongly played.

Reborn looked sideways to see Tsuna wince a couple of times as he listened to his teacher playing. Reborn lifted an eyebrow slightly though didn't question since it was impolite to talk while someone was playing if you weren't a teacher or the jury.

The girls had nodded and started again, dutifully nodding their heads and rocking from side to side as they played, sometimes glancing at the man - Kimura-sensei, from what Reborn understood earlier today.

Tsuna remained not very happy as he listened, shaking his head at a few points and sighing once, and by the end, he almost buried his face in his arms. Reborn nudged him lightly, not risking to do anything harsher since it might earn him a loud reaction from the brunet that wouldn't do any good since the piece being played was quiet and a shriek would stand out.

The boy looked up at him questioningly.

"Why're you so needlessly gloomy?" Reborn asked, albeit quietly. Tsuna glanced back at the two girls who were listening to the teacher once again and sighed inaudibly.

"Rachmaninoff's Suite no. 1 for two pianos should sound as if it is played by one person. And, well, the only real way to play Rachmaninoff is if people who don't know the piece can tell it's Rachmaninoff." The brunet shrugged.

Reborn had recollected that he indeed couldn't tell what composer it was until Kimura mentioned it so Tsuna had a point.

The boy had continued. "Plus, the listener shouldn't be ever distracted by the technical side of the performance - all that should be presented to the audience is the end result, music. So far, Hayashi-san and Setsuna-san... Mostly pay attention to the text." Reborn heard the accent on 'mostly'. "I mean, they're both already in college - Kimura-sensei's in charge of the ensemble groups in college if you're asking - and I don't really have any right to tell them anything since they're only practicing it for a month or so and I'm not one to say anything because I play worse..."

Reborn looked at the boy sharply, mentally disagreeing with the boy. He'd heard Tsuna yesterday and even today when the boy practiced - it was almost incomparable to the girls' playing. At the very least, Tsuna was interesting to hear, even when he was practicing boring stuff. When the teen played romantic pieces, it came as a pleasant experience to anyone who cared to listen. It was as if the boy was playing... right, on some subconscious instinctive level.

"But if I were them," Tsuna scratched his head, "I'd at least start working with the metronome. And payed attention to not throwing all the phrase ends down. And wouldn't hit the accents so loudly. Maybe check all the first beats because they might be the problem to why they can't stretch a phrase longer than four facts. You know. The basic stuff."

Reborn kept an agreeing poker face even if he didn't really get everything.

"So, um, I don't know why Kimura-sensei is talking about emotions and those things when there are much more obvious problems." The teen sighed. "Though this is Kimura-sensei we're talking about..."

An odd look passed in Tsuna's features but it was gone before Reborn could tell what it was.

Onstage, the two students flipped over their pages and started playing the next piece. Barely a minute later, the teacher knocked on one of the pianos with a pencil he was holding, signaling for them to stop. They immediately did so and looked at him questioningly.

"Stop stop stop, Hayashi-chan, Setsuna-chan, these are the tolling bells! This is Rachmaninoff! Do play it accordingly! Where's the pain? And the suffering and the anguish?"

The hitman caught sight of how Tsuna slightly rolled his eyes and cuffed the boy who protested voicelessly.

"And what don't you like now, Dame-Tsuna?"

Tsuna shook his head. "Nothing in particular. It's just that, for some_ inexplicable_ reason, Kimura-sensei loves to hear pain and suffering and sorrow and drama in every possible and impossible moment of pretty much any piece. I'll show you a good audio of those two suites at home, Reborn, and I'm sure you'll get what I mean. This piece is _not_ about suffering. Neither is the second one, or, in fact, anything of Rachmaninoff's, only in cases of exceptions. If there are negative emotions in his composing, it's at least fury and anger, not tears and girlish dilemma."

Reborn nodded slowly, noting to remind the boy when they went back to show him the audio because strangely enough, he felt quite curious about it and interested to hear what Tsuna had to say.

The two girls exchanged glances and nodded, raising their hands over the keyboard and starting the piece again. Reborn watched Tsuna sit straight up politely, head lowered, and trying to stifle flinches at certain parts. The hitman wondered if it had to do with the strange harmonies that he heard at times - he might not have absolute hearing, but a particularly ear-splitting not-very-unison sound was quite suspicious nevertheless. Though Reborn didn't really pay attention, he kind of got bored at one point as he tried to understand where in the world the tolling bells were and why it sounded more like sea lion wails. At one point, the boy chose to, with agonizing scrutiny, study his fingers while inconspicuously covering his ears with his shoulders.

Kimura stopped them once again and lectured about something, though Reborn didn't listen this time, instead surveying his student's reactions that were far more amusing. His face was so expressive - something that will have to go as it wouldn't fit for a boss - and it was evident when he didn't agree with what the teacher said, though of course he didn't say anything. He then noticed the way Tsuna's gaze, from scanning his fingernails, suddenly snapped up at his teacher, with slightly apprehensive and disbelieving wide eyes.

Reborn tuned in and was unpleasantly surprised at what he heard.

"...And, well, while I like some of Rachmaninoff's pieces, not all of them, of course, some are downright _horrible._ Personally, I dislike Rachminoff's own performance, especially in his late years when he was in _depression_."

The girls laughed airily and nodded.

Reborn was staring at the man with slightly narrowed, accusing eyes when his black gaze slid back to Tsuna.

...The boy's eyes were shadowed. His fingers were clenched into knuckle white fists around his school bag and upon squinting, the hitman saw that the boy trembled lightly.

Reborn could feel the temperature dropping around the boy.

"Though of course," the teacher twinkled as if he was sharing a joke, oblivious to the darkening aura in the corner of the small hall, "the only one to play worse was Horowitz."

Reborn couldn't believe how no one noticed the icy wind radiating from the boy as Tsuna bit his lip harshly - almost as if preventing himself from speaking up.

"Dame-Tsuna...?"

Tsuna snapped his eyes at Reborn and the baby only had just enough self-control to not flinch. The brunet's eyes simmered with unconcealed anger and disgust, almost bordering with a sunset orange. His lips were thin but he held it all back for a reason Reborn didn't know of. Perhaps, it might be the strict rule of never disrespecting elders and teachers. But it was quite evident that Tsuna was clearly furious with such words and the hitman could agree wholeheartedly because Horowitz was well-known for being one of the most amazing pianists to ever exist.

Kimura had moved on, paying no attention to the dark corner of the hall, looking very satisfied with himself as he nudged the girls on.

Tsuna folded his arms and looked sour as he proceeded to ignore everything around him, especially what was happening on the stage with an evident bitterness.

Reborn found himself unable to punish the brunet for that.

Ten minutes later, the man had turned to the hall and called Tsuna out. With reluctance that was mercilessly extinguished by the boy himself - a rather peculiar sight that Reborn could read like a book - Tsuna headed down, past the rows, and ascended the stairs to the stage. Reborn hopped off when he passed the first row and sat in the chair to listen from there.

"Ah, good day, Sawada! How are you today?" Kimura asked, smiling.

"I'm fine, thank you, Kimura-sensei."

Apparently, only Reborn heard the single note of distaste in the boy's voice because the teacher just clamped a hand over the boy's shoulder and nodded.

"Good, good! So have you practiced a lot since Monday?"

The boy nodded as he positioned himself in front of the grand piano, stretching his fingers as he cracked his knuckles. Tsuna breathed in and out and raised his hands over the keyboard, though momentarily glancing in Reborn's direction in a slightly (very) nervous manner. His gaze lingered for a moment but reverted back as the boy started playing.

So the boy was playing the English Suite? Reborn heard him practice it earlier today, at school. Even though it sounded quite well on that grand piano, it was way better on the one Tsuna was currently playing on.

A slightly annoyed knock on the piano was heard and Tsuna stopped to look at Kimura.

The man looked displeased.

"Sawada, where's the drama? Come on, this should sound desperate - it's in minor, g-minor, do you understand? I told you this already! This is much more agonizing than what you portray it to be. And why do you look so calm about this? A pianist must be very expressive - he's an actor that goes onstage and plays a role!"

Tsuna watched him, impassively, and after listening dutifully, started again.

Reborn stopped paying attention to what the teacher was saying, only listening absently - since it was obviously Tsuna's job to remember everything - and instead watched Tsuna's fingers with fascination.

Unlike when he was on the concert, the hitman could see the boy's hands much better now, and the way Tsuna's fingers flashed over the keys was fascinating. Certainly, there must've been some imperfections given a few times Tsuna cringed and was stopped by Kimura, but overall, Tsuna's Bach sounded more energetic than the other two girls' Rachmaninoff. No offense to Bach, of course.

Reborn didn't catch all the remarks and admonishments that the piano teacher told the Sawada, but a few minutes later Tsuna finished and stood up, putting away his notes into his schoolbag. Reborn was a very critical type of person and yet he didn't really have much to say about Tsuna's playing - it seemed quite perfect to him - but apparently, knowing ears could hear mistakes. (Not that it was anything to be ashamed of - making mistakes is inevitable, the embarrassing thing is to not try to correct them. Reborn could tell that Tsuna was doing very good, not only for his age but for years in advance. English Suites were _exceptionally_ hard, especially the g-moll one that Tsuna played.)

"Sawada, I know you can do better! You're very talented and with a memory like yours you should be toppling mountains by now! Your talent alone puts others to shame, and I know for a fact for how much they work. I don't know, maybe you don't practice that much? Why can't you do it more quickly? Of course I expect it of you! Now off you go - you've got solfeggio, right?"

"...Hai, Kimura-sensei."

Tsuna bowed and left the stage with shadowed eyes, walking up the aisles and exiting through the door.

Reborn had followed after him soundlessly and watched the boy closely. After a few minutes, he asked.

"Why are you so depressed, Dame-Tsuna? He called you talented - anyone would. You really are since the amount of things you can memorize is... quite impressive and he only means well to you so that you can improve your playing." _Even if he was quite wrong about you not practicing._

"A-ah, I'm not depressed. Not at all. I just don't agree with some of Kimura-sensei's opinions." Tsuna's expression darkened. "For one, I am quite convinced that one should show at least slight human respect to someone who plays better, which, by far, two of the best pianists do." The boy bit out, uncharacteristically. "I mean honestly, we only hear their old recordings and we still listen to them with more amazement than we do at live concerts with better acoustics. Horowitz and Rachmaninoff were _geniuses_." Tsuna sighed bitterly.

"I'm of the opinion that one can criticize another only if he or she can play better. That is, of course, if it's called constructive criticism which, with all due respect, I do not believe Kimura-sensei has displayed. That was quite the opposite, in fact."

Reborn watched the boy with slight fascination as he suddenly started talking in such a serious manner that strangely suited him.

"...But granted, I don't agree with a lot of things, and Kimura-sensei's right about the mistakes I make and I'm happy he spends time to teach me at all."

Tsuna's lips thinned and he sighed, lifting his head. He turned to look at Reborn.

He smiled brightly and walked on in silence.

Reborn glanced sideways at a pair of students passing with violins. On one of the wide windowsills, four girls sat with gusli, practicing an ensemble as they sometimes pointed at the music notes scattered around them and commented. The music school was sure fascinating.

And so, he didn't expect the following words.

"...It's just that I'm not really all that talented. I couldn't memorize a single page without much trouble right up until about two years ago. I actually couldn't read notes up till second grade and by third grade, people started suggesting I quit 'cause I don't have any aptitude to this kind of thing. My technique was horrible. And I still can't defeat my stage fright." A short sigh as Tsuna reddened slightly in shame, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "But I only got into this school this year so, quite luckily, no one knows about that yet, and I'm not telling anybody that I was such a loser before. You're right Reborn, I really should be more grateful that people treat me the way they do."

The brunet smiled softly to himself as he continued walking and rounded the corner, not noticing that Reborn had stopped, staring after the brunet with uncharacteristically shocked eyes.

Oh.

_...Oh_.

That would explain it.

Reborn's lips quirked upwards and he tugged his fedora over onyx eyes, following Tsuna with a small smirk.

The kid was a monster of diligence.

...

"Hi, Sawada-san!"

"Oi, Yoshi. S'up?"

"Hey, 'Nayoshi."

"Tsuna-san! Hello!"

"Tsunayoshi-san!"

"Hey Sawada!"

Tsuna brightened considerably and waved, speeding up to the group of about seven teens standing or sitting in front of one of the tables placed in the corridor.

"Sawada-kun!"

Kyoko was standing among them as she smiled cheerfully. Tsuna grinned back, his eyes lit anew. "Hi, Kyoko-chan!"

A tall teen with slightly curly ash-colored hair and brown eyes clamped a hand over the Sawada in a friendly manner. "How was the repetition, Sawada?"

"It was fine, Minami-san. What about you?"

"Haha, Aoki-sensei said I have too much pedal..."

Tsuna winced sympathetically while another girl with auburn hair and dark green eyes whacked Minami with a solfeggio textbook, an angry tick pulsing on her forehead.

"I told you that too much pedal only makes things worse, Minami..."

"O-oi, Kasikomi-chan! Don't worry - I'll do better next time."

"You say that every single time!"

Tsuna sweatdropped at the two and momentarily glanced at the painting on the wall, courtesy of the arts' school nearby. He noticed two suspiciously black eyes gazing at him from one of the paintings.

The boy almost choked when he saw a certain home tutor staring much too intently for his liking from two holes in the picture. That must be ruining someone else's property! Tsuna refrained from saying anything though, deciding to ignore Reborn in hopes of the action becoming mutual.

Unfortunately, Reborn would never really come around to ignoring Tsuna.

The teen was snapped back to the company at hand.

"Anyways, can I take a look at your homeworks? I've got a problem with the characteristics."

A black-haired girl sitting on a chair looked distressed as she scribbled down in her notebook. She looked at the others pleadingly.

"Of course, Tenshi-chan!" Kyoko took out her own notebook and sat next to the dark-haired female. "Sawada-kun, mind helping out?"

"Not at all! Gimme a sec."

The brunet ruffled through his bag and pulled out a textbook along with a music notebook. He opened both of them, turning pages to the needed ones and put the textbook down on the table in front of the girl while holding the notebook in his other hand for reference to his own homework. He leaned over Tenshi, brows furrowed, and then pointed at one point of the textbook with his index finger.

"This should help, Miyamoto-san! Just remember that characteristic intervals are _always_ created in harmonic mood, regardless if it's major or minor. Meaning, one of the two intervals in both pairs - for the augmented second and diminished seventh, as well as the diminished fourth and augmented fifth - will either be one that is on sixth diminished step, if it's major, or seventh augmented if it's in minor. Try writing them in fis-moll and c-moll - I'll check what you've already done."

The girl processed this, nodding at times, and by the end she thanked Tsuna as she tackled his advice energetically. The boy scanned through the girl's writing, sometimes frowning as he lightly tapped on the table with fingers as if the table were a keyboard that he could hear and sometimes humming lightly under his breath to double check himself.

By the time the girl finished writing, Tsuna was done and started pointing out the mistakes to the female student. Tenshi nodded gratefully and Tsuna smiled with a 'no problem'.

Soon, an elderly woman looked out of one of the doors and gave them a pointed look after which the teenagers hastily took their bags, putting away their things on the way, and they headed into the classroom after her.

Reborn, much to the surprise of the other occupants of the corridor who exchanged dubious looks, hopped straight out of the picture and headed after the teens. Tsuna had accidentally glanced over his shoulder and almost yelped in panic as he frantically gestured for Reborn not to follow. The hitman walked up to Tsuna and kicked him roughly in the leg, a voiceless shriek enough to satisfy his conscious, and Reborn, to his studnet's surprise, walked down the corridor and disappeared around the corner, leaving the teen to his own devices.

Tsuna blinked, though he was snapped back when Kyoko asked him worriedly if everything was okay. He nodded and followed the girl inside.

Frankly, he still felt as if he was watched.

...

"Mmmmm, this ramen is so good!"

"Quit yelling in my ear, Dame-Tsuna."

"I'm _not_."

"You are right now and to top it off, you're behaving like a brat."

Tsuna huffed to himself and went back to devouring his bowl of ramen. The hitman watched him from under his fedora, gaze unreadable like usual. The boy ate the ramen with one hand and tapped on the table with his other hand, a strong knocking sound coming from under his fingers. Reborn had heard that this sort of thing was a helpful thing since it strengthened fingers.

"Tsuna?"

The tapping stopped abruptly as the boy looked up at him with surprise and Reborn realized he referred to him without the 'Dame' part. The boy inclined his head slightly.

"Yes, Reborn?"

"Most kids have musician parents, right?"

Tsuna nodded, trying to understand what Reborn was getting at.

"And does Mamma know anything about music? Perhaps, a few classes of some music school?"

The brunet's eyes slowly widened as he realized what Reborn was asking about. Hesitantly, he shook his head.

"Kaa-san never really had anything to do with music, Reborn."

"...Right."

They continued to sit in silence then, Tsuna occasionally taking a bite of his food while Reborn watched out of the window.

Reborn had by then realized that there was a lot that he didn't know about the boy yet.

* * *

**A/N:** A reminder - this is an author's block counter, so randomness and ranting is guaranteed. This fic is NOT THOUGHT THROUGH. AT ALL. /)_(\ I posted this the moment I finished, without re-reading, so I apologize for any mistakes you find.

This chapter contains some music language, real life piano practices and solfeggio stuff (that I hopefully did not screw the English terminology of) - I tried to make it as easy to read as possible and had to minimize it but seeing as I like to write about this stuff, I might've failed to. I hope you didn't expect this fic to be all concerts and flowers. Issues are all around.

So about Tsuna saying that he wasn't talented - actually, he's very gifted in terms of raw musicality that I think is much more important than natural technique-adaptability and the most important thing is that Tsuna takes music very close to heart. If you couldn't tell already, Tsuna loves music in this fic a freakin' lot. The thing is, for a talent to bloom from very early, there are supposed to be fortunate circumstances - usually, having a parent or tutor who constantly supervises your practicing helps. A lot. And this is something that should be looked into in the chapters - including why Tsuna suddenly became much more known and better in two years up to right now when he's playing on such a high level. But yes - in this fic, Tsuna is very determined about his piano. I know this might look like an OOC Tsuna but if we look at the canon, when Tsuna finds the real motivation that lacked before Reborn, and uncovers a strong resolve, he can be a miracle of persistence.

I also wanted to make Tsuna obsessed with at least something because in canon, unlike Tsuna, everyone else is allowed to be obsessed with at least something (with Tsuna, for example). I mean, Gokudera is obsessed with Tsuna and UMAs and UFOs, Yamamoto is obsessed with baseball (and hanging out with Tsuna), Ryohei is obsessed with extreme boxing (and recruiting Tsuna to the boxing club), I'm not even talking about what Hibari is obsessed with (cough kamikorosu, Sawada Tsunayoshi cough) and Lambo is one little crazy kid with his own crazy stuff (cough gyahahahaha, Dame-Tsuna, buy Lambo-sama some candy cough). Mukuro is obsessed too - I don't even need to name what with because it includes possessing Tsuna. Shamal is obsessed with women, Bianchi is obsessed with killing Romeo and feeding people, Haru is the personification of obsession (with Tsuna for instance) and the list goes on and on. It kind of feels unfair that Tsuna is the only one who has to clean up after his family's mess without having any of his own interests (apart from protecting his friends) he can go 'crazy rant' about. Heck, he doesn't even take interest in manga and video games in the beginning!

And about Kimura - he's not a bad person actually, just maybe jealous at times, boastful, thinks too much about emotions instead of plain right text and applicature, and a tad egotistic. By far, not the worst kind. (Believe me, there are much, much worse ones. One of my piano teachers was an old woman who scarred me for my life with her teaching .-.) He's not an antagonistic character or anything.

And actually, there's surprisingly little that was made up in this fic. Most of the situations - apart from Reborn-involved ones - are based off real life situations. So yeah.

Love, peace and cookies

River Melody

P.S. Cookies to my lovely readers and reviewers ^^ *gives everyone a cookie*

P.P.S. UGH! *rips hair off in frustration* English terminology is such a pain! Russian is so much easier! /)_-" (No offense people, it's just that I'm too stupid to re-educate the whole Western solfeggio system to myself because apparently, the explanations for certain things are a bit different from what I was taught.) If you get bored of the musical stuff, just scroll to Reborn's talking or thinking. He's pretty much in the same situation as you.

P.P.P.S. Random question. What ice cream flavor do you like? I like chocolate ice cream :3


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